Glenn Miller's plane mystery revived after 70 years FacebookEmail Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Glenn Miller's plane mystery revived after 70 years Seventy years before Malaysia Airlines flight 370 became the biggest, most sophisticated plane to ever go missing, a plane carrying bandleader Glenn Miller disappeared during World War II. PBS explores the mystery. Post to Facebook Glenn Miller's plane mystery revived after 70 years Seventy years before Malaysia Airlines flight 370 became the biggest, most sophisticated plane to ever go missing, a plane carrying bandleader Glenn Miller disappeared during World War II. PBS explores the mystery. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: CancelSend A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. 25 To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Glenn Miller's plane mystery revived after 70 years Bart Jansen , USA TODAY Published 11:30 a.m. ET July 7, 2014 | Updated 11:52 a.m.

ET July 7, 2014 Glenn Miller was one of the most famous musicians in the world when his plane disappeared in 1944. The PBS program "History Detectives Special Investigation: The Disappearance of Glenn Miller" explores the mystery Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. (Photo: Courtesy of US Air Force) Seventy years before Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 became the biggest, most sophisticated plane to ever disappear, a plane carrying bandleader Glenn Miller vanished during World War II. Miller was one of the most popular musicians of the 1930s and '40s, with songs such as In the Mood and Moonlight Serenade. His single-engine Noorduyn Norseman disappeared in bad weather, presumably going down in the English Channel, while heading to a Christmas Day concert for troops in Paris in 1944. But the plane and its three occupants were never found. Questions lingering through the decades include whether the plane suffered mechanical problems or was shot down by friendly fire. Books have also speculated Miller was a spy against the Germans or died under scandalous circumstances. The PBS program History Detectives Special Investigations: The Disappearance of Glenn Miller will explore the mystery Tuesday at 9 p.m.

ET. "This was a celebrity story about a guy who was in essence a rock star of his time — he was every bit as big as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones," said Wes Cowan, one of the program's hosts. "He joins the Army Air Force to be a patriot and poof, he vanishes." The beloved and bespectacled Miller was more famous than anyone aboard the Malaysia flight, which took off March 8 with 239 people aboard, but his flight attracted much less attention immediately. Miller had joined the Army in 1942 at the age of 38 and performed with his Army Air Force Band to boost troop morale. With a friend, he hitched a ride Dec. 15 on a UC-64 Norseman that left a Royal Air Force field called Twinwood Farm. Foggy, freezing weather should have prevented the flight, just as a snowstorm should have grounded musician Buddy Holly before his fatal crash in Iowa 14 years later. But Miller was eager to reach Paris for a concert celebrating the troops who had arrived since D-Day months earlier. "They never should have been flying that day," Cowan said.

"They had no permission to fly." About the same time Miller's plane was heading to France, a bombing mission was returning from Germany with its payload because the weather was too stormy to spot targets. But those Lancaster bombers dropped their explosives over the channel before landing, leading to speculation they might have inadvertently hit Miller's plane. The program has taped interviews with a British accident investigator, who reviewed the case in the 1980s, and a possible witness to explore this option. Co-hosts Tukufu Zuberi and Kaiama Glover help narrow down what might have happened. But one of the frustrations of the case is that a detailed investigation came long after the disappearance. The flight occurred on the eve of a German offensive now known as the Battle of the Bulge, which began the next day and raged for more than a month. A revelation came in January 2012, when the journal of an amateur plane-spotter was unearthed and offered new information about the plane's path. And the show explores speculation that has developed over the decades, including the fact that Miller made German-language music recordings during the war that some have suggested could have conveyed hidden spy messages.

Miller also worked with David Niven, the British actor who served as a commando during the war and coordinated with American forces. The show offers a little something for big-band fans, aviation enthusiasts and those who love a mystery. "I think it's an interesting story about a guy who was at the top of his game and wanted to do something for his country," Cowan said. "They paid the ultimate price for hubris." 1109 CONNECT TWEET 2 LINKEDIN 25 COMMENTEMAILMORE Read or Share this story: NEVER MISS OUT Travel Make your next trip unforgettable. Get travel tips, trends and inspiration to help you make the most of your travels, Monday-Friday. Glenn Miller Classic Instrumental Collection In WAV Format. Bandleader - Trombonist who went missing during the 2nd World War.

Born: 1 March 1904; Death: 15 December 1944 (airplane crash); Best Known As: Wartime Big Band leader; Name at birth: Alton Glenn Miller Alton Glenn Miller (March 1, 1904 - December 15, 1944) was an American jazz musician and band leader in the Swing era. One of his most famous pieces was "In the Mood", probably the most well-known recording of the style. Musician & Bandleader Miller worked as a trombonist in several Big Bands before forming his first band in 1937, but because there were so many bands at that time and it had no distinguishing qualities, it failed. Miller returned to New York soon after it broke up. At some point (Miller himself apparently could not recall exactly when) he realised that his band's distinctive reed sound, formed by the clarinet and tenor saxophone playing the melody line with a number of other saxes harmonising, should be emphasised and that "the sound" might be enough to lift him above the crowd of other Big Bands of the era.

He formed another band in 1938, the Glenn Miller Orchestra. This immediately attracted attention and big crowds. A series of recordings followed, beginning in June, 1939 Miller's orchestra dominated the top spot on the various popular music charts for over a year, with "In the Mood" (a pared-down arrangement of the Joe Garland tune) holding the top spot for over fifteen weeks in early 1940. "Tuxedo Junction" took over, keeping Miller at "Number 1" into the summer. On February 11, 1941, Miller was presented with the first ever Gold record for "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Other popular hits included "String of Pearls", "Moonlight Serenade", and "Pennsylvania 6-5000" (which was, and still is, the real telephone number of the Hotel Pennsylvania in Manhattan). Military Service Miller joined the United States Army Air Corps in 1942 and was commissioned as a Captain. He commanded the Army Air Force Band, assigned to play for American troops overseas.

He was scheduled to fly from England to Paris on December 14, 1944, to play for the soldiers that had recently liberated the city. A performance he never made. Miller's plane went missing and still remains somewhat of a mystery. The official explanation is that his plane went down somewhere over the English Channel, although many alternate theories have been suggested. The fact that neither Miller's remains, nor the wreckage of the single engine Norseman plane he was travelling in were ever recovered from the channel have led to many conspiracy theories over the years. "To add fuel to the mystery, the official records of the airfield that Miller supposedly took off from on his way to Paris, say that no planes took off that day due to bad weather. In addition, many supposed eye witnesses report to have seen Miller after the official date of death. Some former friends of Miller's have claimed to have seen him in France on the 15th. Others have claimed to see him at a party in Washington DC a few days later. Some have suggested that Miller had been killed during a secret mission, which led to his actual cause of death being covered up.

Other sources think he died after a heart attack in a brothel in Paris." One source that may possibly support the official record comes from members of a bomber crew that was returning to England on the day Miller's plane was heading to Paris. Standard procedure called for the bombers to drop their unused "payload" into a specified location in the English Channel on their way back to England. One of the crew members claims to have seen a Norseman flying underneath the bombers as they dropped their bombs. Miller's Norseman would only have had to travel a few miles off of its course to be positioned directly under the returning bombers. It is possible, by some twist of events, that the Miller plane was accidentally bombed by an Ally bomber while dropping unused bombs. Miller's music has surpassed the Big Band era and is well-known today by many because of its' use in movies. Jimmy Stewart starred as Glenn Miller in 1953's movie Glenn Miller Story . "Moonlight Serenade" was used in Tom Hanks' Big. In 1989, "In The Mood" was used as the instrumental theme for Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers "Swing the Mood", that was number one single in Britain, Australia, and several other countries.

In April 1992, at his daughter's request, a stone was placed in Arlington National Cemetery in memory of Glenn Miller. ---------------------------------- GLEN MILLER MYSTERY SOLVED NAZIS IN GEN. EISENHOWER'S HQTRS BETRAYED MILLER MISSION TO MEET WITH GERMAN REP. OF ANTI-HITLER FORCES TO BRING EARLY END TO WAR IN EUROPE - 90 YEAR-OLD DOWNS (FRAIL BUT ALERT) SAYS FAMED BAND LEADER'S NUDE DEAD BODY DUMPED OUTSIDE PARIS BROTHEL At the time, it made sense. Concocting an "official" cover story to mask the unpleasant details of the death of beloved bandleader, Maj. Glenn Miller. The truth would have been extremely hard for World War II era Americans to accept and comprehend and might've played into German "propaganda" and disinformation at the time, i.e. that Miller died in the arms of a Paris prostitute. He did not. Miller was a patriot and on a mission for Gen. Eisenhower that might have helped bring a quicker end to World War II. An elderly but alert retired officer on Gen.

Omar Bradley's staff, Army Lt. Col. Hunton Downs, has spoken to MilitaryCorruption.com about the facts of the case from his home in Asheville, N.C. This respected officer has spent 60 of his 90-plus years of life following the trail; gaining access to OSS/CIA files on Miller; U.S. and German documents long hidden away on the case; relentlessly chasing down leads; and now, the military investigator believes he has "solved the final mystery" of what really happened to Glenn Miller. We agree, and while there are other researchers out there with differing conclusions (as you will see later on in this extra-length article), Downs comes the closest to "nailing down" the true facts by coming up with a very plausible explanation for what we now know to be a "cover-up" that has lasted since 1944. "CRASH IN CHANNEL" STORY A "COVER-UP" FOR THE TRUTH The heroic "myth" that Miller's plane went down in bad weather in the English Channel in December of that fateful year, was born of wartime necessity.

The aircraft—a single-engine Norseman—was never found, and although numerous theories have been offered as to what really happened to Alton G. Miller, the epitome of Middle America and "musical magic" of that time, Downs has the most documented findings. One of the first clues that the "official version" of Miller's death was wrong—dramatically portrayed by Jimmy Stewart in the great 1950's movie "The Glenn Miller Story"—was the MACR (Missing Air Crew Report) on file at Maxwell AFB in Alabama since the end of World War II. Dipping into Scotland Yard, RAF records in England (the "Ansell Report") and The Imperial War Museum in London, as well as extremely valuable investigative documents discovered by the late Miller researcher Wilbur Wright, Downs discovered the "adjutant's signature" on the "official" form had been "falsified," and Miller's name had been "added to the passenger list" (different typewriters had been used). "The falsifiers had even gotten destinations wrong, trying to fit in pre-conceived plans of what Supreme Headquarters (Gen. Eisenhower) claimed had taken place," Downs said.

GLENN MILLER WAS A PATRIOT - HIS LAST MISSION COST HIM HIS LIFE But that wasn't all. His dogged research over the years led to an important find in documents stored at the RAF Museum in Croydon. A female driver named Joan Heath—remember, dear reader, Gen. Ike had a British subject (and alleged mistress) Kay Summersby driving his staff car—had reported in writing she had taken Maj. Miller in an Army sedan to an airstrip in France the night of Dec. 16-17, 1944. Downs tells in his new book, "THE GLENN MILLER CONSPIRACY: THE NEVER-BEFORE-TOLD TRUE STORY OF HIS LIFE AND DEATH" (Global Book Publishers of Beverly Hills, Calif.) he believes the German-speaking Miller was carrying "peace feelers" from Gen. Eisenhower to German generals, reportedly eager to end the war and save their homeland from complete destruction. It is important to recall that in July of 1944, an assassination attempt had already been made on Hitler. The German High Command knew full well that the Allies were going to win the war.

Down's investigation shows Miller was to be secretly flown in a small Bobcat two-motor aircraft from a French airfield near Versailles to German Army headquarters at Fichtenhein near Krefeld. The short-hop, pre-arranged flight was to be made through the Ruhr "flak zone" towards Gen. Von Rundstedt's command post. MILLER CAPTURED BY GERMANS, BEATEN TO DEATH DUMPED ON DOORSTEP OF PARIS BROTHEL Miller's mission, however, was revealed by a spy to the die-hard Nazis, who preferred to fight to the death. The band leader, at some point in the trip, was captured and brutally interrogated. Hating Miller ("Mueller," of German heritage) for his radio broadcasts in the German language to enemy forces urging them to "quit the war" and "surrender" to the Allies, chief Nazi propagandist Dr. Joseph Goebbels ordered the falsehood spread that Miller had been "found dead in a Paris brothel." The story was only half true.

The whorehouse, long a hangout for high-ranking Nazis during the German occupation, was indeed where Miller's battered and nude body was discovered, sprawled on the doorstep. But Downs says the major was left there by the enemy in an effort to smear the bandmaster's memory and score points in the all important propaganda war. "Broderick Crawford, the Academy-Award winning movie actor, was a close friend and drinking buddy of Miller's," Downs told an MCC reporter. "He served as announcer for the band's radio broadcasts and live performances in England. Before the star of "ALL THE KING'S MEN" died, Crawford told Downs, during a booze binge in Paris that loosened his lips, that his hero, Glenn Miller, had "been on a mission for Ike" and been "killed in the effort." Down's fascinating book details MP reports that a man meeting Miller's physical description had been found at the brothel location—Rue Pigalle—and a U.S. Army doctor (his name is in the book) signed Miller's death certificate. Allegedly, Maj. Alton G. Miller's body was in short order flown to Wright-Patterson Field in Dayton, Ohio and he was buried in a secret location.

There is so much more in the way of detail and documentation in "THE GLENN MILLER CONSPIRACY" that we cannot emphasize enough that this book is the quintessential volume of what actually happened in one of the last great mysteries of World War II. Anyone having any interest in the Miller story needs to read this book for themselves and draw their own conclusions. ANOTHER AUTHOR CLAIMS MILLER DEAD IN SEPTEMBER 1944 While Col. Downs has assembled the most information on the case, including a superb "back section" of photographs and copies of never-before-seen documents, another author claims he helped mistakenly shoot down Glenn Miller in a small plane on Sept. 9, 1944, more than two months before the musical icon left England to travel to recently liberated Paris, France. Clarence B. Wolfe, a World War II enlisted man, tells Susan Goodrich Griffin in "I KEPT MY WORD: THE PERSONAL PROMISE BETWEEN A WORLD WAR II ARMY PRIVATE AND HIS CAPTAIN ABOUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO GLENN MILLER" that his "drunken" officer, the late Capt.

Lawrence Foley, made him "promise never to reveal" the officer's belief he had mistakenly ordered the "shoot down" of Glenn Miller in a small unidentified aircraft in the fall of 1944. Foley is now dead, and Wolfe, whom an MCC reporter interviewed by phone, feels he is released from his promise and has written his book to "clear the air" and tell his story while he's still alive to do so. There's no doubt that Wolfe is sincere and believes what he says. But his slim volume—just 122 pages (available at AuthorHouse.com—copies can be ordered by calling toll-free 1-800-839-8640)—offers little in the way of actual proof.

ALLEGES HE HEARD TWO DAYS OF BROADCASTS ON ARMED FORCES NETWORK IN ENGLAND THAT MILLER KILLED Wolfe swears he heard two days of broadcasts on AFN (Armed Forces Network) in England "confirming" Miller's death right after the alleged "shoot down." But no one at AFN can confirm the so-called broadcasts, and a search of STARS & STRIPES and British daily newspapers in this writer's personal collection of that date shows no such thing. In fact, Miller was seen in public numerous times between Sept. 9 and mid-December. 1944 when he either crashed in the English Channel (official version) or was killed in Paris (more likely scenario). It would be hard to have a "double" traipse around portraying Miller, and the thinness of documentation Wolfe can point to, quite frankly makes his account hard to believe. In fairness to the first-time author, an associate tells us Wolfe is "hard at work" on another book that may reveal more "details" of what the former anti-aircraft gunner and spotter says happened to Maj. Miller.

The former Army enlisted man from Bloomington, Ind., hopes to travel to England for the 65th "anniversary" of Miller's death, which he contends took place on Sept. 9, 1944. For updates on Wolfe's plans, go to Those preferring THE GLENN MILLER CONSPIRACY can purchase that 271-page soft cover book for $17.95 at Amazon.com or go directly to the publisher's homepage at [EDITOR'S NOTE: We are sure the nuts and nitpickers will be out in force to criticize our publishing anything about these two books on the Glenn Miller mystery. Some folks will cling to the "official" story as closely as old Dan Rather still swears Oswald was the "lone assassin" in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. "Kill the messenger" or "reporter" is a well-known phenomenon and many of us have scars on our backs from the knives and arrows slung there by both well-meaning fools and malicious low-lifes who have to "find fault" with everything to justify their own worthless existence. We hope those dummies don't bother to e-mail us.

But our quick "trigger finger" is poised on the delete button, just in case.] BBC - School Radio - World War 2 Audio Clips - World War 2 music: Glenn Miller and his Orchestra play 'In the mood' World War 2 Audio Clips In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions World War 2 music: Glenn Miller and his Orchestra play 'In the mood' Share this page Glenn Miller (1904 - 1944) was born in America. He was a jazz musician who later became one of the most popular band leaders in the 'Big Band' era. His most famous tunes include 'Chattanooga Choo Choo', 'Moonlight serenade' and 'In the mood', an extract of which can be heard here. In 1942 Miller decided to help the war effort and joined the US Army, becoming a Captain and leader of the Army Air Force Band. In 1944, at the height of his fame, Miller flew from England to France, to play another concert for troops in liberated Paris. However, that night Miller's plane went missing over the English Channel.

His body has never been found and thus Miller's status remains 'missing in action'. Sighting of Glenn Miller's doomed plane by amateur spotter shatters theory that aircraft was downed by falling WWII bomb' | Daily Mail Online Sighting of Glenn Miller's doomed plane by amateur spotter shatters theory that aircraft was downed by falling WWII bomb' comments Mystery: The cause of swing musician Glenn Miller's death in 1944 has sparked many conspiracy theories For almost 70 years, Glenn Miller's death in a wartime plane crash over the Channel has been a source of fascination and speculation. Neither the great American bandleader's body nor the wreckage were ever found, leading to countless claims of a cover-up. But now a previously unreported sighting of the doomed plane has emerged in a teenage planespotter's notebook – and seems to shatter the main theory over Miller's death. The popular explanation suggested that after taking off from England on December 15, 1944, for Paris, where he was due to give a series of morale-boosting concerts to troops, Miller's Norseman light aircraft was hit by a bomb jettisoned by an RAF Lancaster returning to England after an aborted raid on Germany.

But now it has emerged that Richard Anderton, then 17, jotted in his notebook how he saw Miller's plane that day east of Reading – and west of London – flying in an east-south-east direction towards the Sussex coast. The timings suggest the Norseman was miles away from the bomb jettison zone over the Channel. The significance of the sighting was established after the notebook was taken to a BBC Antiques Roadshow event for valuation by relatives of Mr Anderton, who died in 1982. The Notebook: The Glenn Miller archive in Colorado is satisfied that the highlighted line '1 Norseman going ESE' refers to Miller's plane Eyewitness: Richard Anderton who noted his sighting of Miller's plane in his logbook It supports the original, official version of events that Miller's plane crashed in the sea due to pilot or mechanical error. Dennis Spragg, historian at the Glenn Miller Archive in Colorado, U.S., which has authenticated Mr Anderton's sighting, said: 'One theory for the cause of the crash was that the pilot strayed east into a restricted zone for bombers and the plane was struck by friendly fire.

RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share 'But by December 1944, when the Allies were in control of northern France, it would have been extremely problematic to have a bomb jettison zone off the south coast because of the location of transport routes for aircraft and pipelines under the Channel. It is likely the restricted area was further east towards the North Sea. 'This document is very important because it shows the pilot was flying on the right route and was on schedule and didn't fly to the east as speculated.' Other more outlandish theories have suggested that Miller, best known for his hit In The Mood, was a spy and made it to France, or was captured by the Germans. Mr Anderton's notebook, valued at £1,000, is featured on the Antiques Roadshow tomorrow. He was working at a factory at Woodley Airfield in Berkshire when he saw the plane and made a note of it. But he did not realise it might be Miller's until 1969 when he read a newspaper article about him. He didn't mention it to anyone, and it was only after he died that his family found the notebook.

A plane similar to the UC-64 Norseman light aircraft Miller was flying in Popular: Glenn Miller, one of the biggest artists of the 1930s and 1940s, delights his fans performing on stage The Disappearance of Glenn Miller The Disappearance of Glenn Miller Glenn Miller Photo: US Army Air Force, 1944 In 1944, Alton Glenn Miller, born 1904, was on top of the world. He was the world's most popular band leader, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra was the best selling recording group on Earth. His influence on big band swing music was rivaled only by the great Benny Goodman. A patriot, Miller convinced the United States Army to let him tour the theaters of World War II entertaining the troops. As a major serving in the United States Army Air Force, Glenn Miller boarded a small plane for a quick hop across the English Channel to give a concert in Paris. But the only destination that little single-engine plane and the three men on board ever reached was the file of history's unsolved mysteries. No trace was ever found, and Miller remains listed to this day as missing in action. He was only 40 years old.

As we so often see with celebrity deaths or any mysterious disappearances, rumors and alternative theories tend to pop up like daisies. What happened to Glenn Miller? Did he die in a plane crash at sea and was never found, or was he perhaps secreted away in some intelligence related spy story? What's known for sure is that he got on a plane. Glenn Miller's last flight was from RAF Twinwood Farm, a base for night fighters in Bedfordshire, operated by the US 8th Air Force. The plane was a UC-64 Norseman, a rugged little single-engine plane with seating for up to ten, used for transport and miscellaneous duties, and designed for operating on rough, unimproved surfaces. This particular Norseman had a short career, having been delivered only five months earlier from New Jersey. At the controls was Flight Officer John Morgan, and his passengers were Major Glenn Miller and Lt. Col. Norman Baesell, something of a wheeler-dealer who knew all the right people and would set up gigs for Miller. It was drizzling, the temperature was just above freezing, and the trio took off under heavy overcast at 13:53.

The date was December 15, 1944. They never reached Paris. The first theory, which is really just the default assumption, is that the plane went down and was lost at sea. It's an all-too-familiar scenario, and fits perfectly with the world's leading cause of air crashes: a controlled flight into terrain in poor visibility. December 15 was the first day in several days that air traffic in the area hadn't been completely grounded due to fog, and even still it was drizzling and cloudy. A normal flight should have taken just about two hours. Morgan was required to follow a specific air transport route called the SHAEF corridor once he left Twinwood; passing AAF Bovingdon, navigation waypoints at Maidenhead and Beachy Head, and then across the channel to a French waypoint at Fécamp, and finally landing at AAF Villacoublay just south of Paris. Estimated time of arrival was between 15:47 and 15:51. The Royal Observation Corps spotted the Norseman heading out over the water from Beachy Head at approximately 14:37, precisely on course and on schedule.

Pilots at all levels of experience sometimes lose their bearings. It's called spatial disorientation, and it's led to more than one famous air crash we've talked about here on Skeptoid (like this and this ). According to simulator testing that's been confirmed time and time again in the real world, the average time a pilot has left to live once he becomes spatially disoriented is 178 seconds. Instrument rated or not, spatial disorientation followed by a controlled flight into terrain is the most common cause of pilot death. And of course a mechanical failure is perfectly plausible. No trace of the Norseman was ever found, so we have no evidence for whatever might have happened, other than the lack of a plane and what is, statistically, the most likely scenario. However, it's not the most popular theory. The one you'll usually read about is quite a bit more colorful. While the Norseman was out over the Channel flying south through the bad weather, a flight of 138 British Lancaster bombers was on their way to bomb the railroad yard at the city of Siegen in Germany.

They were forced to abort their mission because poor visibility had prevented their fighter escorts from taking off; and since it was too dangerous to try and land a bomber fully laden with live bombs, they jettisoned their bombs in the English Channel on the way back. South of Beachy Head was a ten-mile circle called the South Jettison Zone. Fred Shaw, a navigator in one of the Lancasters, told the story in several television documentaries: We got about as far as south of Brussels when we recieved a message to the effect we were to return and jettison our bombs in the English channel. I never seen bombs exploding from a plane before. I put my head in a little observation blister where I could look vertically down, there sure enough 4000lb cookies were exploding and I could see the blast waves were radiating outward. As I was watching the bomb aimer said "there is a kite down there", and I looked down and saw a small tiny high wing monoplane... I saw him flip over to port he looked like he was going into a spin, he dived in and splash, then he disappeared under the wing.

Years later, Victory Gregory, the captain of Shaw's plane, confirmed that Shaw and two others had reported seeing the plane go down over the intercom. But since the mission was scrubbed there was no debriefing, no report was made of the downed plane; after all, these men saw planes go down nearly every day. Shaw's story is remarkable and has gained considerable traction in popular culture, but it's hardly well accepted by the others who flew with him that day. Ron Brown is another who was aboard one of those Lancaster bombers, and in 2008 he wrote in the UK Telegraph newspaper that he felt it would have been impossible for anyone to have actually witnessed the jettisoned bombs strike the Norseman: From leaving our airfield and throughout the flight the weather conditions deteriorated very rapidly and as we entered German air space we were recalled and detailed to jettison our bomb load into a pre-designated area of the North Sea.

Over 100 aircraft were involved and an extremely dicey action in 9/10's cloud when we could hardly see our own wing-tips!...Considering that we were jettisoning from an altitude of 3,000ft with almost nil visibility, in my opinion a ridiculous claim from any observer. This was the only time we brought our bombs back from the target throughout our many operations. Roy Nesbit, now the RAF editor for the British Defence Ministry's Air Historical Branch, spent a lot of time researching Shaw's story, and eventually, everything checked out. Even the timing was right, despite earlier findings that it wasn't possible. Apparently the British were on GMT and the Americans were on local time. The Lancasters took off at noon GMT, and that indeed would have put them just about where they needed to be to have encountered the Norseman over the South Jettison Zone. The North Sea (described by Brown) is to the east of Great Britain; the English Channel is to its south. Both can't be right. No witnesses other than Fred Shaw personally claim to have seen the bombs take out a small plane.

Shaw also states himself that he didn't remember the incident until after he saw the Jimmy Stewart movie The Glenn Miller Story ten years later in 1954. However, one point is telling. No record exists before 1954 that Glenn Miller's plane was knocked down by jettisoned bombs. When the death of a major celebrity is talked about for ten years with never a single mention of a particular theory, it's more than likely the case that that theory was born after the ten years. This brings us to the third theory: Glenn Miller safely arrived in Paris, but suffered a heart attack in a house of ill repute that night, and intelligence officers concocted the "lost at sea" story to hide the inconvenient truth. It should be noted that no serious information supports this claim. The story didn't even exist until 1997, when German journalist Udo Ulfkotte reported in the tabloid Bild that he discovered this while reading through documents he obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (but of course, he never actually produced those documents).

Later Ulfkotte said he'd been misquoted, and never claimed to have had any such documents; but to have merely heard the story told him by former German intelligence agents. Regardless, it's a wholly anecdotal story that requires too extensive a coverup to be taken seriously. Then in 2011, a piece of evidence emerged that — according to the newspapers — finally solved the mystery of how Glenn Miller died. It came to light in an episode of BBC Antiques Roadshow, a television program where people bring in their antiques to have them appraised by experts. Sylvan Anderton, then 77 years old, brought in his late brother's notebook. Richard Anderton had been a teenager during the war and worked at Woodley Airfield. He was an avid planespotter, and amused himself by studiously noting in his book the movements of military aircraft that he witnessed. Sylvan noted that his brother had inserted a newspaper clipping about Glenn Miller's death inside the book. On that page was the notation of "1 Norseman going ESE", with an S meaning that he was to the plane's starboard side.

The date was December 15; and the time was in a block that covered 12:45 to 3:00 PM. At some point, Richard Anderton had realized that he'd seen Glenn Miller go by, stuck a clipping into his logbook, and that was that. But did the discovery of the Anderton logbook actually solve the mystery? Not at all, and here's why. It merely agreed with what we already knew. The Glenn Miller Archive at the University of Colorado Boulder American Music Research Center confirmed that the Anderton sighting was consistent with the known flight path of the Norseman on its way to Beachy Head. From there, it struck out south across the English Channel, where it may, or may not, have been destroyed by bombs inside the South Jettison Zone. The Anderton logbook in no way answers that question. How exactly did Glenn Miller meet his end? One way or another, it was in the English Channel in bad weather on December 15. Whether or not bombs had anything to do with it depends on a single unconfirmed report. It's certainly possible, but seems a million to one shot. But of course, every millionth event is a million to one shot.

Whether this one hit the mark is a question whose answer is somewhere under 20 fathoms of cold water. Cite this article: Dunning, B. "The Disappearance of Glenn Miller." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media, 18 Mar 2014. Web. 17 Jan 2017. < References & Further Reading Brown, R. "Britain at War: Did we kill Glenn Miller?" UK Telegraph. 30 Oct. 2008, Newspaper. Farlander. "The Mysterious Disappearance of Glenn Miller." h2g2. British Broadcasting Corporation, 20 Jul. 2004. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. < GMA. "Press Release." Glenn Miller Archive. Glenn Miller Trust, 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. < Hill, S. "Clue to the mysterious disappearance of bandleader Glenn Miller in plane-spotter’s log." Doubtful News. Lithospherica, LLC, 12 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

< Magnusson, D., Dishlevoy, R. "The Aircraft: A brief history of each individual Norseman." The Noorduyn Norseman. Don Magnusson and Roy Dishlevoy, 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. < Quartermaster General. Missing Air Crew Report for Lieutenant Colonel John R.S. Morgan, Major Glenn Miller, and Flight Officer Norman F. Baessell. Washington, DC: War Department, 1944. 1-5. Simon, G. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. New York: Da Capo Press, 1974. Copyright ©2017 Skeptoid Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Rights and reuse information Amazon.com: St.Louis Blues March: Glenn Miller: MP3 Downloads TITLE added to MP3 cart St.Louis Blues March Start your 30-day free trial of Unlimited to listen to this song plus tens of millions more songs. Exclusive Prime pricing. $0.99 to buy Your Amazon Music account is currently associated with a different marketplace. To enjoy Prime Music, go to Your Music Library and transfer your account to Amazon.com (US).

Fix in Music Library Sold by Amazon Digital Services LLC. Additional taxes may apply. By placing your order, you agree to our Terms of Use . Related Video Shorts Customers Also Listened To These Songs Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 Original Release Date: February 6, 2006 Release Date: February 6, 2006 Label: Odessa Mama Records By W. Clement on March 18, 2014 Format: MP3 Music Verified Purchase At the peak of his career and too old to be drafted into World War II, Glenn Miller none-the-less volunteered for the Army Air Corps in 1942 in order to create a modernized Army band. "St. Louis Blues March" combined blues and jazz with a traditional military march. "St. Louis Blues" written by W.C. Handy had already been a commercial success. It was the first blues song to succeed as a pop record. Major Miller's plane went missing on Dec. 15, 1944. His plane took off from England to play for troops that had just liberated Paris. The plane was never found. Fortunately, his work lives on! You will really enjoy this recording.

Question: Which City was Glenn Miller travelling to when his plane went missing?
Answer: PARIS